"Your words were found, and I ate
them, and Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart; for I am called
by Your name, O Lord God of hosts” (Jeremiah 15:16)
This is the second sermon in a series on the “fruit of the Spirit,” a phrase used by Paul the Apostle
to describe Christian character (“fruit”) which
should include “joy” (Galatians 5:22). Like fruit
comes from a fruit tree, you can reasonably expect JOY to emanate from the life
of a Christian man or woman. Last week we spoke of “love,”
and this week, it's about “joy.” Searching through
the many books God has blessed me with, I expected to easily locate wonderful
examples that exemplified joy. I didn’t find them, and looked on the internet,
discovering that most of the illustrations are about what “joy” is NOT. I remembered the glum faces so often seen in
churches, and wondered if examples of ongoing joy in the lives of real people in
this world are all too rare.
I started reading a book by Bernard Ruffin about
Fanny Crosby, the amazing blind woman who wrote the lyrics to 9,000 hymns.
Before her time, hymns were mostly formal and cold, but she developed a new kind
of hymn that appealed to the emotions, the spirit of the worshipper. Fanny
Crosby’s grandmother taught her to “call upon God for
every need and give thanks to Him for everything.” Fanny learned “there was nothing too difficult for God to do and that, whatever
their need might be, He could meet it. No matter how extravagant or unlikely
their request, He would grant it – if it were good for them. If God did not
grant the request, then they should not be downcast, for He had something in
store for them better than their wildest hopes and expectations. They should
rejoice, therefore. The sufferings and frustrations of life could be borne
patiently and cheerfully, because they were being led to something better.”
Joy is in and from the Lord.
Fanny Crosby had an amazing memory, eventually
memorizing the whole Bible and other works. She was a fine singer, mastered the
guitar, was an excellent horsewoman who liked it best when she was at a gallop,
and she became a teacher at the college level. It's said that “she had a personality of rare intensity and vitality that tended
to express itself… in joy.” But it was also true that she had episodes of
“violent sorrow.” She did everything with
“a fierce passion that was almost more than her meager
frame could bear… throughout her life.” Yes, she had times of great joy
in her life, but she also suffered from depression. She was human; which is a
problem for everyone, including all who have ever lived. We are a troubled
people, living in a troubled world.
Part of the problem of understanding joy seems to be
that we have seen magazines, movies and television episodes that show us the
public sides of persons – the parts they want us to see. It’s like a magic trick
in which our attention is distracted from one thing so we will see something
else. The right hand is lifted up so we will not see what is concealed in the
left. The seemingly most joyful person you ever saw is also - human.
When we encounter a smiling face or hear loud laughter,
we think we are in the presence of joy. We want to be around such a person
because it is hoped that they are contagious and we might “catch” what they
have. We want to laugh, if only for a moment. But that’s not joy.
Rich Wagner, in a “blog” commenting on a book he
wrote, called “The Myth of Joy,” admitted that he
had been “confused by what true Biblical joy really was.”
He thought it was “an earthly substitute - happiness.”
He said, “As a result (he was)
a happy Christian on Sunday morning, but living the rest
of the week strapped to a rollercoaster, rising and falling based on situations
in (his) life.” Wagner continued, “Happiness is all about the here and now. Biblical joy is rooted
in eternity… Happiness depends on circumstances, but joy is independent of
anything (of this world) that happens to me.”
Jeremiah the prophet, who wrote the words of our
Scripture for today, did know times of great joy, but like Fanny Crosby, he also
had times of numbing depression. He truly loved his people, Israel, and called
out to them through the decades, but they did not turn to the Lord. He said, “My eyes fail with tears, my heart is troubled; my bile is poured
on the ground because of the destruction of the daughter of my people…” (Lamentations
2:11). The Book of
Lamentations is full of Jeremiah’s statements about the depression he
experienced simply because he CARED for his people.
Jesus Christ also cared, more than we understand, for He is the Son of God and we are merely
human. He gave His life
for a rebellious people who turned their backs on Him. Isaiah prophesied about
Him, hundreds of years before He came to earth, “He
is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief”
(Isaiah 53:3).
But there is much more than depression and sorrow in our
walk with the Lord. Jeremiah also said, “Through the
Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are
new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. The Lord is my portion, therefore
I hope in Him!” (Lamentations 3:22-24). Jeremiah found joy!
Joy is not something from this world at all, but
instead the passion we call “joy” is always based
in the Lord. It is found in looking to what He has done and intends to do for
people like you and me. I’ve had a life that has contained seasons of
depression, and yet I also note that there is an undercurrent of excitement, a
deep joy that is almost beneath the “radar” of my conscious awareness. And it’s
because I’ve spent forty years studying the Word of God. The promises
made in Bible times are for us right now.
That’s what Jeremiah found, as we can see in our
Scripture verse for today. He said, "Your words were
found, and I ate them, and Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my
heart; for I am called by Your name, O Lord God of hosts” (Jeremiah
15:16). Nehemiah, another great prophet, was advised by God, “Do not sorrow, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”
Both Jeremiah and Nehemiah heard the Word of the Lord firsthand. The words
we read in our Bibles, underlining them as we go, were directly spoken by
Almighty God into the hearts of the prophets. “Do not
sorrow,” meant that Nehemiah, like Jeremiah, had been sad. For them, as
for us right now, it is the Word of the Lord which brings us to a place where we
are capable of receiving joy. It is indeed a “fruit of the
Spirit,” God’s gift; and it is not dependent on outward circumstances. It
is from Him.
Lord, I trust in You. Fill me with Your Spirit,
open Your Word to my understanding and give me the joy of the Lord. Thank You.
In Jesus Name. Amen.
